Hillingdon tuesday nights

[Toks]

I'm not sure if I know which Matt this is but well done anyway Mate! If you can't get a placing try and make sure you're not beaten by a London Dynamo rider

Cat 4/W/J
1 43 BEN LOWE Twickenham CC
2 7 MICHAEL WILMOT Hillingdon Slipstreamers
3 51 DANIEL SANTONI Lea Valley CC
4 49 JAMES WILSON BC Private Member
5 38 PAUL TROUGHTON Wheelbase/ Ronhill
6 41 DEAN BOND Reading CC
7 47 FRED HALE Reading CC
8 54 ANDY LACK Kingston Wheelers
9 55 MATT DAY Addiscombe CC
10 22 JON HALFHIGE London Dynamo
11 52 LUKE MERRILEES Beyond Mountain Bikes

[ajay khandelwal]

Well done Matt ! I hope to race next Tuesday so see you there. Any more Addiscombe 4th Cats come down and we'll give the we'll show the dynamuppets how its done.

[siwickm]

After the race I was in at the weekend you may need to come first to beat the London Dynamo as it felt like every other rider in the peleton was from London Dynamo. So there you go enough motivation to make sure you win your next race.

Cheers

Marek....

[Toks]

Yes indeed Marek, I've got to say I do have a grudging respect for those guys. A couple of years ago when they switched from being BikePark to London Dynamo I swear to you there couldn't have been more than about 40 in their club. Now their membership could start to rival our own. Their rise from nobody's to big guns (possibly the biggest 'racing' club in the South east) is nothing short of remarkable.

I'm not sure how they've managed to recruit so many racing types. Having a really tasty kit, well organised morning rides in Richmond Park and having, Warrick Spence (my favourite UK Elite Rider) are probably all contributing factors. When I'm at races the first guys I look out for are other ACC racers. If there's none (usually the case ) I look out for the LD boys cause I kinda know their faces. But if any of them finish ahead of me I'm not a happy bunny!!!

[Paul H]

Perhaps London Dynamo actively encourage racing. It seems to me that the racers in Addiscombe are doing their own thing.

[ajay khandelwal]

I bumped into John Sadler this morning on the train and he told me he will be racing in ACC kit at Crystal Palace next Tuesday. Good news for the ACC results sheet.

[Toks]

[quote]Perhaps London Dynamo actively encourage racing. It seems to me that the racers in Addiscombe are doing their own thing.

[richv]

I don't know where the feeling that racing isn't encouraged comes from? It's true that our club runs aren't all flat out training rides but there is a good reason for that and if you want to have your legs ripped off Marek's usually around.

If you want to start racing there is a huge amount of encouragement and advice available. I started time trialing about 2 years ago and everywhere I raced there was usually several Addiscombe face around all of whom were friendly and helpful.

It maybe true that things are a bit more disparate on the road racing side. Members are fairly widely spread and there is no selection of races to focus on but much of that is because most of us simply race when we can. Having said that there are usually a few faces around.

I've just got back from Chertsey where there were 3 ACC riders in the fourth cats (on a par with Dynarod) and 2 of them finished in the top 5 with Neil winning the race (on the unofficial result).

There were 4 more riders in the 3rd cat race although unfortunately Max (I think) had a problem with his tyre just before the start and didn't actually ride. As I left Marek and Tim were busy trying to get a break going so there was no doubt that ACC was actively involved in the race.

[Rob]

its funny how so many people get teh same impression!!

so whos hosting the acc road race champs this year?

[Graham O]

From my point of view, people like toks do a great job of trying to encourage racing. I think that the problem is just the make up of the club.

Most of use are not the whipper snappers we used to be and have families etc. I think that maybe we are just in it for a fun saturday morning ride.

If we managed to encourage more young uns, you might see some more racing. How we do that I don't know. Perhaps gettig our name more well known around croydon.....by getting a small piece in the local rag along with the local footie sides. Don't know.

From my point of view, I have had ago at a time trial and really enjoyed it. Once I have done the welsh sportive; I'll try and do some more tt's and perhaps a circuit race..If I've got the bottle...

Ta,

Graham...

[Ian A4size]

I think you are right Graham, most of the club are older guys who just luv riding bikes- and racing costs are quite high so i think some of the younger riders just cant afford it- it must cost at least £10 to enter, then you gotta join Surrey league and BC then get a racing licence, then you gotta travel- food-spares, its an expensive business. I dread to think what pocket money costs are these days- I have a daughter at uni- luckily my son is fully employed. My opinion is that as a club we could perhaps help our racers- as how too attract younger riders into the club, well i just dont know .. We do have some very good young riders, Peter M , Adam, and a guy who rode with our group on saturday Chris, unfortunatly most of the ride was made up of "mid life crisis man"

[-Adam-]

Thanks for the mention Mr Munnery!

The impression i have had from the past 18months riding with Addiscombe is one that the racers seem to do there own thing, but having said that this spring there has definately been a theme of getting everyone to race. Im not sure how much of this is for the development of the club, or just to rival London Dynamo, but its a start! I have ridden with them in richmond park before, and it was the fastest through and off session i ever did.

The problem i have as Ian pointed out, it all does seem very expensive. I desperately want to start racing at the end of june (after my A-Levels end). Money can be earnt, but thats another problem, if like me your at school, college or whatever, you have to work weekends to pay for this sport. And i really struggle to fit in the club run with my job as i primarily work saturday nights in a hotel. So for example, there was no way i could have done the ToSH the other week, and made it to work in any kind of a fit state! So i have to make the sacrifice sometimes, then if i dont finish work until after midnight. I'll clearly be disadvantaged at the start line of a race on a sunday or even a club run! So its a vicious circle.

But enough moaning, i guess everyone struggles to fit it all in. And i dont have a family to support etc.

But what i would like to know is how do i go about being ready to start racing at the end of June?

Technically im still not a member, hence you'll never have seen me in addiscombe kit. So i guess this is the place to start; How do i become a member? And more importantly what does it cost, and do i get any benefits for being a member?

Then im not sure where i go next. Do I join BC, and get a racing licence? Or what about this Surrey League?

Im interested more in road racing, as i can climb pretty well on my day. But also have a fair sprint so what about these closed circuit races?

Basically, i know nothing, so any advice will be gratefully received!

Thanks

Adam

[richv]

Adam

It is true that the racers in the club do tend to do their own thing (with some notable exceptions) but this is mainly because with limited time and racing and training to be fitted in there is often not the opportunity to get out on the club runs. Nealy everyone is happy to offer advice and assistance if asked.

If you want to race I would suggest:

(a) You join the club - this isn't strictly necessary for road racing but will keep Monty off your back when he finds out you're not a member. For juniors I think the cost is reasonably cheap, Phil Nash will be able to give you the details and the appropriate form.

(b) If you're going to race more than once or twice then you should join BC and get a racing licence. You can start racing by buying a day licence but the cost of that each time soon outweighs the cost of the racing licence.

(c) It's not necessary to join the Surrey League straight away. If you're going to try racing at Eastway or Hillingdon (closed circuits in East and West London) then the racing is generally not run by the Surrey League so there is no advantage in being a member. Once you've got the hang of things and want to progress to on-road (as opposed to closed circuit) racing then it would be worth joining to get access to races on the Surrey courses (although I would check to make sure they allow juniors to ride the on-road courses).

(d) If you are a junior you will also need to fiddle with your gears. There are gear restrictions for juniors (details can be found on the BC site) and you will need to adjust your gears so that you cannot use any of the larger gears that exceed the restrictions.

I also think the Club should do something to support juniors who want to race and I'm going to suggest at the next committee meeting that the club should pay for junior members race entry fees provided they turn up and ride. Whether this will be agreed we'll have to wait and see.

[-Adam-]

Thanks for the advice.

I don't think im a junior anymore, since im 19 on May21st. Had a quick browse on the BC website and being born in 1987 puts me firmly in the Senior categories. But i guess that just makes it all more of a challenge.

Is it neccessary to start on closed circuit races, or could i get straight on the open road races?

Thanks

Adam

[Grahame]

Sean - me too (age, not suicide bid). Remember, "Getting old sucks, but it's better than the alternative."